Faculty News and Notes

L. A. Boatner, an adjunct professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, has been named a Fellow of the Materials Research Society. Boatner’s citation is for “pioneering, sustained, and innovative contributions to the fundamental understanding, processing and applications of single crystals, nanocomposites, rare-earth and actinide compounds and scintillators.” Boatner, an Oak Ride National Laboratory corporate fellow, is the director of the ORNL Center for Radiation Detection Materials and Systems, and he leads the synthesis and properties of novel materials group in the ORNL Materials Science and Technology Division.

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A journal article co-authored by Nalin C. P. Edirisinghe, a professor in the Department of Statistics, Operations, and Management Science, was selected as one of the 50 best articles published in 2008 in the field of management science. The article, “Portfolio Selection under DEA-based Relative Financial Strength Indicators: Case of US Industries,” was published in the Journal of the Operational Research Society, volume 59, issue 6. The Citation of Excellence award was given by Emerald Management Reviews, an abstracting and indexing database firm that covers the top business and management scholarly journals in the world.

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Chris Holmlund, a professor in the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures and the Cinema Studies Program, recently was elected president of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS), the foremost international organization in film studies. Her six year term of office begins July 1. Her duties include working with the American Council of Learned Societies and co-organizing the society’s 50th anniversary conference to be held March 2010 in Los Angeles. SCMS members are college and university educators, filmmakers, archivists, historians, critics, scholars, graduate students, and others devoted to the study of the moving image. The society’s peer-reviewed journal, Cinema Journal, is the top publishing venue for media studies scholarship.

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Beauvais Lyons, a professor in the School of Art, was elected to chair the University Faculty Council at their meeting held recently in Nashville. Lyons currently serves on the council as the UT Knoxville representative. The University Faculty Council confers with, advises and communicates with the president of the UT system. The council is composed of 10 faculty, including the Faculty Senate president for each campus, an elected representative from each campus and two faculty trustees. The next council meeting will be held June 15 in Knoxville.

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Thomas Riesing, a professor in the School of Art, recently received the 2009 Alumni Achievement Award in Art and Art History from the University of Nebraska. Riesing also has been appointed guest professor at Beihang University, Beijing, China, where he is teaching painting now through June 18.